Under the Mat: A Dark History Podcast

Episode 35: Stigma, Policy, and the Drug Poisoning Crisis ft. Dr. Elaine Hyshka

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 06:01:00 GMT

Host Aubrianna Snow speaks with Dr. Elaine Hyshka about the drug poisoning crisis in North America, reducing stigma surrounding substance use, and how governments can address the crisis through evidence-based policy.

Dr. Elaine Hyshka is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Health Systems Innovation at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health, and Scientific Director of the Inner City Health and Wellness Program. Her program of health systems and services research is focused on advancing a public health approach to substance use in Canada. She works closely with service providers, health authorities, people with lived experience of substance use, and all levels of government to identify, evaluate, and scale systems innovations for improving health outcomes and advancing health equity. Between 2019-2023 Dr. Hyshka co-Chaired Health Canada’s Expert Advisory group on Safer Supply and between 2017-2019 she served as Co-Chair of the Alberta Minister of Health’s Opioid Emergency Response Commission. Her research and leadership have been recognized with multiple awards, including a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal, a Trailblazer Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Institute of Population and Public Health, and a President’s Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievements in Innovation from Alberta Health Services.

More about harm reduction and drug policy:

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, reach out.

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Episode 34: The Opioid Crisis in Canada

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 15:55:00 GMT

Bains, C. (2024). More than 1 in 4 deaths among young people in Canada were opioid-related in 2021, study finds. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/opioid-young-people-1.7174098
Boynton, S. (2025). New Purdue opioid crisis settlement builds ‘momentum’ for Canada: B.C. AG. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/11247593/opioid-crisis-lawsuits-purdue-mckinsey-canada-bc-us/
CATIE. (2025). Reported drug toxicity deaths dropped in parts of Canada in 2024 – But what’s behind the numbers? https://www.catie.ca/prevention-in-focus/reported-drug-toxicity-deaths-dropped-in-parts-of-canada-in-2024-but-whats
CBC News. (2025). Edmonton region hits all-time monthly peak in opioid-related deaths. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-drug-poisoning-opioid-1.7575814
Freeze, C. & Woo, A. (2026). Opioid deaths are declining. Five factors help explain why. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-opioid-deaths-have-declined-sharply-in-canada-these-five-factors-help/
Howlett, K. (2020). Canada’s Opioid Crisis. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadas-opioid-crisis
Pugliese, K. (2025). Healing works, but First Nation opioid crisis isn’t stopping. APTN. https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/healing-works-but-first-nation-opioid-crisis-isnt-stopping/
Uguen-Csenge, E., Ayres, S., & D’Souza, S. (2025). Health Canada ignored expert advice to expand access to safe drugs for opioid users, internal documents show. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/opioid-overdose-crisis-street-drug-government-funding-9.6976562
Van Santvoort, A., Wilson, C., & Xiong, D. (2023). Adding up the billions of government dollars directed at Canada’s opioid crisis. Times Colonist. https://www.timescolonist.com/local-opioid-crisis-news/adding-up-the-billions-of-government-dollars-directed-at-canadas-opioid-crisis-7073142
Zafar, A. (2025). Opioid deaths in Canada fell 17% in 2024, but thousands are still dying. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/opioid-deaths-decline-canada-1.7615255

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Episode 33: Unfreedom North of the Border ft. Dr. Harvey Imani Whitfield

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 07:01:00 GMT

Host Aubrianna Snow speaks with Dr. Harvey Imani Whitfield about the history of slavery in early Canada, the lives of enslaved people during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the legacy of slavery in North America today.

Dr. Harvey Amani Whitfield is a professor and Centennial Carnegie Chair in the History of Slavery in Canada at the University of King’s College in Halifax. Prior to his current role, he taught for 17 years at the University of Vermont and four years at the University of Calgary. He grew up in Maryland and attended Colorado State University. His MA at Dalhousie focused on West African history. His area of research interest is Black migration, coerced and free, to the Maritimes during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Dr. Whitfield is the author of several books including Blacks on the Border: The Black Refugees in British North America, 1815-1860; North to Bondage: Loyalist Slavery in the Maritimes; Biographical Dictionary of Enslaved Black People in the Maritimes; Black Slavery in the Maritimes: A History in Documents; and The Problem of Slavery in Early Vermont, 1777-1810.

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Episode 32: Slavery in Canada

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 23:14:31 GMT

Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia. (n.d.). Slavery. https://bccns.com/our-history/slavery/
Brown, K. G. (2019). Canada’s slavery secret: The whitewashing of 200 years of enslavement. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/canada-s-slavery-secret-the-whitewashing-of-200-years-of-enslavement-1.4726313
Canadian Museum of History. (n.d.). Virtual Museum of New France. https://www.historymuseum.ca/virtual-museum-of-new-france/population/slavery/
Cooper, A. (2022). The Enslavement of Africans in Canada. The Canadian Historical Association. https://cha-shc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/The-Enslavement-of-Africans-in-Canada.pdf
Forani, J. (2020). ‘Systemic silence’: Canada’s ignored history of slavery. CTV News. https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/systemic-silence-canadas-ignored-history-of-slavery/
Henry-Dixon, N. (2022). 1793 Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/1793-act-to-limit-slavery-in-upper-canada
Henry-Dixon, N. (2021). Slavery Abolition Act, 1833. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/slavery-abolition-act-1833
Hunter, A. (2022). Tainted Wealth: Canada Has Tried to Erase Its History of Slavery. The Walrus. https://thewalrus.ca/canada-slavery/
Lawrence, B. (2020). Enslavement of Indigenous People in Canada. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/slavery-of-indigenous-people-in-canada
McCullough, C. & McRae, M. (2023). The story of Black slavery in Canadian history. Canadian Museum for Human Rights. https://humanrights.ca/story/story-black-slavery-canadian-history
Moore, F. (2024). The history of colonialism and slavery still impacts Black people in Canada. Policy Options. https://policyoptions.irpp.org/2024/02/black-history-canada/
Ontario Heritage Trust. (n.d.). Slavery in Canada. https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/pages/our-stories/slavery-to-freedom/history/slavery-in-canada
Shaw, M. N. (2022). Historical Legacies, Black Canadian Slavery, and Institutional Histories. Black Perspectives. https://www.aaihs.org/historical-legacies-black-canadian-slavery-institutional-histories/
Walfall, P. D. (2025). Here’s why Canada has to apologize for slavery. Broadview. https://broadview.org/canada-slavery-compensation/

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Episode 31: Victorian Death and Modern Denial

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 07:01:00 GMT

Adams, P. (2025). Canada needs to move toward a public health model of supporting grief. Policy Options. https://policyoptions.irpp.org/2025/07/grief-support/
Australian Museum. (2018). Mourning - Victorian Era. https://australian.museum/about/history/exhibitions/death-the-last-taboo/mourning-victorian-era/
Cole, M. (n.d.). Mourning After: The Victorian Celebration of Death. Oshawa Community Museum. https://www.oshawamuseum.org/pdf/Mourning_After_The_Victorian_Celebration_of_Death.pdf
Crowther, H. (2024). Cost of dying: How the death-care industry is changing in Canada. CTV News. https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/article/cost-of-dying-how-the-death-care-industry-is-changing-in-canada/
Evans, M. (2020). The Relentlessness of Black Grief. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/09/relentlessness-black-grief/616511/
Goles, K. (2022). Evolution of American Funerary Customs and Laws. Library of Congress Blogs. https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2022/09/evolution-of-american-funerary-customs-and-laws/
Kodjak, A. (2016). Dying In A Hospital Means More Procedures, Tests And Costs. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/15/481992191/dying-in-a-hospital-means-more-procedures-tests-and-costs
Mendoza, M. A. (2018). Death and Mourning Practices in the Victorian Age. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/understanding-grief/201812/death-and-mourning-practices-in-the-victorian-age
Petch, A. (n.d.). English ethnographic objects in the Pitt Rivers Museum associated with funerals, mourning or memorials. England: The Other Within. https://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/england/englishness-funeral-objects.html
Takagi, A. (2024). The cost of dying in Canada is skyrocketing: Why funeral providers say Ottawa needs to step up. The Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/business/the-cost-of-dying-in-canada-is-skyrocketing-why-funeral-providers-say-ottawa-needs-to/article_f1ce28b8-eaba-11ee-84c9-370c6f545e04.html
Von Aderkas, E. & Levine, M. (2011). A brief history of death and dying. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/a-brief-history-of-death-and-dying-1.1115800
Wilmot, C. (2016). The Space Between Mourning and Grief. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/06/internet-grief/485864/

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Episode 30: Misogynist Violence, Collective Memory, and Engineering Futures ft. Francine Pelletier & Makenna Kuzyk

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 07:01:00 GMT

Host Aubrianna Snow speaks with Francine Pelletier about the legacy of the École Polytechnique massacre and the progress of feminism and with Makenna Kuzyk about the Order of the White Rose Scholarship and building brighter futures for women in engineering.

Francine Pelletier has had a long career as a journalist, both in print and for electronic media, in French as well as in English. Her career includes co-founding and acting as editor-in-chief of the women’s monthly magazine (La Vie en rose, 1980-87), social and political commentary in Montreal’s La Presse (1988-92) as well as Le Devoir (2013-2022) newspapers. She worked as a Quebec National Assembly correspondent for Radio-Canada’s Le Point (1993-1995). Then, as a reporter for CBC’s The National and, shortly after, as co-host of CBC’s flagship current affairs program, the fifth estate (1995-2000). In 2001, Francine Pelletier began writing, directing and producing independent documentary films. She has a dozen films to her name, including Public Enemy Number One (2003), on former Premier Jacques Parizeau, Sex, Truth and Videotape (2004), a 6-part series on women and sex and Battle for Quebec’s Soul (2022), on how Quebec nationalism has become more and more conservative. In 2015, she joined Concordia University’s Journalism Department as a lecturer. Francine Pelletier has won many awards, including the B’nai Brith Human Rights Award, the Judith-Jasmin award and three Gemini awards. She is the author of four other books: Second début: Cendres et renaissance du féminisme, Atelier 10 (2015), on her involvement in Quebec’s women’s movement; L’Art de se mouiller : Chroniques pour nourrir le débat. Écosociété (2022), a selection of her columns in Le Devoir; Au Québec, c’est comme ça qu’on vit : La montée du nationalisme identitaire, Lux Éditeur (2023), on the rise of conservative nationalism in Quebec; Dream Interrupted : The Rise and Fall of Quebec Nationalism, Sutherland House Books, (2025), an updated English version of the preceding book.
Makenna Kuzyk is currently completing her Master's Degree in Flight Test Engineering at the International Test Pilot School in London, Ontario, and is a recipient of the Order of the White Rose scholarship. She earned her undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta, where she founded Mission SpaceWalker— the first all-female team to participate in the Canadian Reduced Gravity Experiment Challenge, which continues to conduct space-related research. She has been involved in Students for the Exploration of Space (SEDs) Canada, participating in their stratospheric balloon and analog research projects. Her internships included working at Rocketlab as part of the inaugural class of the Zenith Fellowship, the Canadian Space Agency, National Research Council Flight Laboratory, and Zipline as a 2024 Brooke Owens Fellow. She enjoys writing music under the Spotify artist name Mak <3, flying planes as a private pilot, and playing a variety of sports from snowboarding to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

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Episode 29: The École Polytechnique Massacre

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 07:01:00 GMT

If you're in need of support, dial 988 or text WELLNESS to 741741.

Blais, M. & Dupuis-Déri, F. (2019). The Montréal Massacre is finally recognized as an anti-feminist attack. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/the-montreal-massacre-is-finally-recognized-as-an-anti-feminist-attack-128450
DiBranco, A. (2019). The First Anti-Feminist Massacre. Political Research Associates. https://politicalresearch.org/2019/12/06/first-anti-feminist-massacre
Diebel, L. Two women on Marc Lépine’s death list speak out. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/two-women-on-marc-l-pine-s-death-list-speak-out/article_5a2f6b99-e8f7-5506-8e56-765704555700.html
Gerster, J. (2019). Feminism met gunfire at École Polytechnique. It’s taken 30 years to call it what it was. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/6242996/ecole-polytechnique-violence/
Global News. (2019). Remembering the women killed in the École Polytechnique massacre. https://globalnews.ca/news/6187845/montreal-massacre-victims/
Lindeman, T. (2019). ‘Hate is infectious’: how the 1989 mass shooting of 14 women echoes today. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/04/mass-shooting-1989-montreal-14-women-killed
Monin, G. (2025). Monique Lépine lived a mother’s worst nightmare. The Sault Star. https://www.saultstar.com/opinion/gene-monin-monique-lepine-lived-a-mothers-worst-nightmare
Scott, M. (2014). Polytechnique massacre: Lives forever changed. The Gazette. https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/polytechnique-massacre-lives-forever-changed
The Canadian Press. (2024). A timeline of the legacy of the Montreal massacre. CTV News. https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/a-timeline-of-the-legacy-of-the-montreal-massacre/
Wilson-Smith, A. (1999). Lépine Massacre Ten Years After. Maclean’s. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/fr/article/lepine-massacre-ten-years-after-en-anglais-seulement
Woloshyn, R. (2024). Polytechnique murderer Marc Lépine had her on his kill list. She never forgot the moment she found out. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/fifthestate/francine-pelletier-montreal-massacre-1.7401282

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Episode 28: Sixties Scoop Survivorship, Healing, and the Work of Repair ft. Wayne Garnons-Williams

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 07:01:00 GMT

Host Aubrianna Snow speaks with Wayne Garnons-Williams about his experience as a Sixties Scoop survivor, the work of the National Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation of Canada, and what's required to protect the rights of Indigenous children in Canada and globally.

Wayne Garnons-Williams, BA (Windsor), LLB (Queen’s), MPA (Dalhousie), LLM (Oklahoma) is the CEO of the not-for-profit registered charity, the National Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation of Canada. Wayne is a lecturer at the University of Waterloo, United College, bachelor of Indigenous entrepreneurialism program. He is also the Senior Lawyer and Principal Director of the law firm Garwill Law Professional Corporation. Further, he leads an international business entitled Indigenous Sovereign Trade Consultancy Ltd. and is the founding President of the International Inter-tribal Trade and Investment Organization (IITIO) a 501 (c)(3) educational charity incorporated in Oklahoma with international representation from Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Canada. He is past board secretary of the Council of the Great Lakes Region, past Chair of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Appeal Tribunal, past Chair of the National Council of Federal Aboriginal Employees and is currently on the board of directors of the International Law Association and is one of the founding members of the Working Group on Indigenous International Trade. Wayne was instrumental in advising on the development of Indigenous trade policy for Canada as well as being appointed lead Canadian Indigenous negotiator for the Indigenous Peoples Economic Trade and Cooperation Arrangement (IPETCA). Wayne is also a Research Fellow specializing in International Comparative Indigenous law at the University of Oklahoma, College of Law as well as a Senior Legal Fellow for the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law. He was appointed by Order in Council as a member to the NAFTA Chapter 19 Trade Remedies roster and then appointed in 2020 as a CUSMA Advisory Committee Member on Private Commercial Disputes, Article 31.22. He is the Council for Aboriginal Business 2019 award winner for Excellence in Aboriginal Relations, the 2020 Queen’s University Alumni Award winner, the recipient of the 2020 International Legal Specialist in Peace, Justice and Governance Award from the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, the 2024 United States-Canada Law Institute recipient of the Sidney J. Picker Award for contributing to the development of US-Canada relations, the 2024 H.R.S. Ryan Law Alumni Award of Distinction in recognition for outstanding contributions to the faculty, university, and legal profession, Queen’s University, Faculty of Law and the 2024 Oklahoma Supreme Court Sovereignty Symposium medallion for outstanding contributions in furthering Indigenous legal issues. Wayne is from the Moosomin First Nation, Treaty 6.

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Episode 27: The Sixties Scoop

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 06:01:00 GMT

Alston-O’Connor, E. The Sixties Scoop: Implications for Social Workers and Social Work Education. University of Windsor. https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/csw/article/view/5816/4747
Cameron, C. (2018). The Sixties Scoop tried to extinguish our culture and our spirit. It failed. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/sixties-scoop-1.4595402
Hoye, B. (2025). 10 years after apology, '60s Scoop survivors call for support beyond 'grossly inadequate' payout. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/sixties-scoop-apology-decade-anniversary-1.7564426
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. (2017). Sixties Scoop Agreement in Principle. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/indigenous-northern-affairs/news/2017/10/sixties_scoop_agreementinprinciple.html
Kestler-D’Amours, J. (2017). ‘Mixed feelings’ over Canada’s ’60s Scoop’ settlement. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/10/11/mixed-feelings-over-canadas-60s-scoop-settlement
Métis National Council. (n.d.). Sixties Scoop. https://www.metisnation.ca/sixties-scoop/
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. (2021). 60s Scoop Inquiry. https://nctr.ca/uncategorized/60s-scoop-inquiry/
Sherlock, T. ‘We Need to Take Care of Our Own Children’: Inside the fight for Indigenous jurisdiction over child services in Canada. APTN News. https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/we-need-to-take-care-of-our-own-children-inside-the-fight-for-indigenous-jurisdiction-over-child-services-in-canada/
Sinclair, N. J. & Dainard, S. (2024). Sixties Scoop. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sixties-scoop
Southern Chiefs’ Organization. (2024). SCO’s work to support Sixties Scoop Survivors. https://scoinc.mb.ca/sixties-scoop-survivors/
University of British Columbia. (n.d.). Sixties Scoop. Indigenous Foundations. https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/sixties_scoop/
University of Toronto Scarborough. (2022). UTSC study helping Sixties Scoop survivors reconnect to stolen Indigenous culture. https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/healthsociety/utsc-study-helping-sixties-scoop-survivors-reconnect-stolen-indigenous-culture

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Episode 26: 2SLGBTQ+ Rights in Canada

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 06:01:00 GMT

Bradburn, J. (2021). ‘A turning point in our history’: Remembering Canada’s first major gay-rights protest. TVO Today. https://www.tvo.org/article/a-turning-point-in-our-history-remembering-canadas-first-major-gay-rights-protest
Benchetrit, J. (2023). How the parental rights movement resurged in response to trans inclusivity in classrooms. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/parental-rights-movement-us-canada-1.6796070
Bronskill, J. (2023). A new study lays out the 'horrendous' treatment of Canadian queer WWI soldiers. The Canadian Press. https://globalnews.ca/news/9578536/first-world-war-soldiers-lgbtq-study/
Bronskill, J. (2019). 718 victims of Canadian government’s gay purge compensated in settlement. The Canadian Press. https://globalnews.ca/news/5491739/gay-purge-victims-canada/
Canadian Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity. (2019). Our History: Study Guide. https://www.cbu.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/CCGSD_OurHistoryStudyGuide_April2019.pdf
King’s Printer for Ontario. (2024). Discussion paper: Toward a commission policy on gender identity. Ontario Human Rights Commission. https://www3.ohrc.on.ca/en/discussion-paper-toward-commission-policy-gender-identity/background
Pinsonnault, A. (2023). Canada and LGBT purge of the Cold War. Je me souviens. https://jemesouviens.org/en/lgbt-purge/
Stratchan, T. (2022). Under the Rainbow: Canada’s History of LGBTQ Discrimination and Older Adults. Simon Fraser University. https://www.sfu.ca/airp/news-events/blog/under-the-rainbow--canada-s-history-of-lgbtq-discrimination-and-.html
The Canadian Encyclopedia. Timeline: 2SLGBTQ+ History. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/timeline/lgbtq2
Wells, V.S. (2024). Transgender. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/transgender

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Episode 25: Unmarked Burials, Denialism, and the Role of Youth in Reconciliation ft. Benjamin Kucher

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 06:01:00 GMT

CORRECTION: 2025 marks the fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, not the fourth.

Host Aubrianna Snow speaks with Benjamin Kucher about unmarked burials, residential school denialism, balancing academic and community responsibilities, and the future of reconciliation.

Benjamin Kucher is a Métis archaeologist, writer, and activist from the Métis Nation of Alberta and a descendant of the Michel First Nation. He is the former Chair of the National Indigenous Advocacy Committee and currently a researcher at the University of Alberta where his research focuses on Métis identity, material culture, and the role of trade beads in shaping cultural practices. Beyond his academic work, Benjamin has been deeply involved in national conversations about truth and memory. He has attended all seven National Gatherings on Unmarked Burials organized by the Office of the Independent Special Interlocutor, where he served as Chair of the Youth Advisory Committee, helping to facilitate dialogue, hold space for Survivors and families, and ensure that youth perspectives are carried into national reports and recommendations. Benjamin is also the Chair of the Canadian Archaeological Association’s Indigenous Issues Committee, where he works alongside the CAA’s Working Group on Unmarked Graves to advance Indigenous leadership, data sovereignty, and the protection of traditional knowledge within the discipline. His writing and advocacy often center on confronting residential school denialism, pushing institutions to move beyond silence, and protecting truth against erasure and distortion. He is the author of We Were Never Theirs, a powerful work that blends scholarship and testimony to confront colonial silencing and to reclaim Indigenous memory. His voice has been featured in outlets such as CBC Indigenous and Windspeaker News, and he has presented his work at national and international conferences. At the heart of his work is a commitment to community, truth, and accountability. Benjamin brings to his research and advocacy not only academic training, but also the lived experience of carrying Indigenous identity into spaces that have long resisted it. His work is as much about healing and protection as it is about history.
Read Benjamin's most recent work with Sean Carleton in The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/confronting-residential-schools-denialism-is-an-ethical-and-shared-canadian-responsibility-265127

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Episode 24: The State of Reconciliation in Canada

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 06:01:00 GMT

CORRECTION: 2025 marks the fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, not the fourth.

If you need support, please contact the National Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419 or dial 988 if you are experiencing thoughts of suicide or self-harm.

Baskatawang, L. (2023). A Brief History of Reconciliation in Canada. Peace Review, 35(1), pp. 109-118. https://doi.org/10.1080/10402659.2022.2164183
Blackstock, C. (2007). Residential Schools: Did They Really Close or Just Morph Into Child Welfare? Indigenous Law Journal, 6(1), pp. 71-78. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ilj/article/view/27665/20396
Kestler-D’Amours, J. (2025). Denying our truth: The fight against residential school denialism in Canada. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2025/2/7/denying-our-truth-fighting-residential-school-denialism-in-canada
Sterritt, A. (2023). Reconciliation in Canada. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/reconciliation-in-canada

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Episode 23: Canada's Residential Schools

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 06:01:00 GMT

CORRECTION: 2025 marks the fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, not the fourth.

If you need support, please contact the National Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419 or dial 988 if you are experiencing thoughts of suicide or self-harm.

CBC News. (2016). A history of residential schools in Canada. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/a-history-of-residential-schools-in-canada-1.702280
Hill, R. (2021). Survivor. Toronto Life. https://torontolife.com/life/how-i-survived-canadas-residential-school-system/
Homeless Hub. (2025). Indigenous Peoples. https://homelesshub.ca/collection/population-groups/indigenous-peoples/
Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada. (n.d.). History of Residential Schools. https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/history-of-residential-schools/
Kumar, M. B. & Tjepkema, M. (2019). Suicide among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit (2011-2016): Findings from the 2011 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort (CanCHEC). Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/99-011-x/99-011-x2019001-eng.htm
Ling, J. (2021). ‘He was just a child’: dead of Indigenous residential schools haunt Canada. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/05/canada-indigenous-residential-schools-first-nations-children
Morin, B. (2024). ‘Nobody hugged me.’ Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2024/11/3/how-one-survivor-of-canadas-residential-schools-reclaimed-her-identity
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. (2025). Residential School History. https://nctr.ca/education/teaching-resources/residential-school-history/
The Canadian Press. (2025). Forty-one more graves found by penetrating radar at B.C. residential school site, First Nation says. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-forty-one-more-graves-found-by-penetrating-radar-at-bc-residential/
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf

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Episode 22: Prisons

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 06:01:00 GMT

Anderson, A. (2023). Prison Abolition is Needed Now. Georgetown Journal of Law & Modern Critical Race Perspectives. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/mcrp-journal/blog/prison-abolition-is-needed-now-prisons-and-jails-do-not-keep-anyone-safe/
Bauer, S. (2018). The True History of America’s Private Prison Industry. Time. https://time.com/5405158/the-true-history-of-americas-private-prison-industry/
BBC. (n.d.). Crime and punishment in 18th- and 19th-century Britain. Bitesize. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zn9sn9q/revision/7
Correctional Service Canada. (2025). Pre-1920: From punishment to penance. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/correctional-service/corporate/history-csc/timeline/pre-1920.html
Department of Justice Canada. (2023). Overrepresentation of Indigenous People in the Canadian Criminal Justice System. Government of Canada. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/oip-cjs/p3.html
Law, V. (2022). Rethinking Incarceration. Harvard Radcliffe Institute. https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/news-and-ideas/rethinking-incarceration
Moore, J. M. (n.d.). Penal Reform: A History of Failure. Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/publications/cjm/article/penal-reform-history-failure
Potier, B. (2003). Abolish prisons, says Angela Davis. The Harvard Gazette. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2003/03/abolish-prisons-says-angela-davis/
Reid, J. N. (2023). The idea that imprisonment ‘corrects’ prisoners stretches back to some of the earliest texts in history. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/the-idea-that-imprisonment-corrects-prisoners-stretches-back-to-some-of-the-earliest-texts-in-history-210361
Stevenson, B. (2019). Slavery gave America a fear of black people and a taste for violent punishment. Both still define our criminal-justice system. The New York Times Magazine. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/prison-industrial-complex-slavery-racism.html
Wills, M. (2020). How Mass Incarceration Has Shaped History. JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/how-mass-incarceration-has-shaped-history/

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Episode 21: The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 02:31:00 GMT

Chmielewski, K. (2025). The First Atomic Bombs Tested and Used During World War II. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/story/discover-more-about-the-first-atomic-bombs-tested-and-used-during-world-war-ii
Harry S. Truman Library. (n.d.). Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb. https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/presidential-inquiries/decision-drop-atomic-bomb
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. (n.d.). Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. https://www.icanw.org/hiroshima_and_nagasaki_bombings
Kaneko, Y. (2025). Saplings from tree exposed to atomic bombing planted at U.N. headquarters to mark 80 years since Hiroshima, Nagasaki bombings. Asia News Network. https://asianews.network/saplings-from-tree-exposed-to-atomic-bombing-planted-at-u-n-headquarters-to-mark-80-years-since-hiroshima-nagasaki-bombings/
Rose, M. (2013). The Girl Who Transformed the Paper Crane Into the Symbol for Peace and Hope. Huffpost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-girl-who-transformed-the-paper-crane_b_3787670
Sagan, S. D., & Sinclair, G. (2024). What do Americans really think about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. https://thebulletin.org/2024/08/what-do-americans-really-think-about-the-bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/
Sakaguchi, H. & Rothman, L. (n.d.). Survivors of the Atomic Blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki Share Their Stories. Time. https://time.com/after-the-bomb/
Teekah, E. (n.d.). Nihon Hidankyo. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nihon-Hidankyo
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Brittanica. (2025). Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/event/atomic-bombings-of-Hiroshima-and-Nagasaki
Walker, S. (2025). ‘You don’t brag about wiping out 60‑70,000 people’: the men who dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/22/atomic-bomb-hiroshima-nagasaki-author-stephen-walker
Wellerstein, A. (2020). Counting the dead at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. https://thebulletin.org/2020/08/counting-the-dead-at-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/

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Episode 20: Violence and Femininity Through the Lens of the Ken and Barbie Killers

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 06:01:00 GMT

Disclaimer: I experienced some minor tech issues with my microphone while recording this episode. I apologize for any impact on the sound quality and appreciate your patience — everything will be back to normal next episode!

Butts, E. (2018). Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka Case. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/paul-bernardo-and-karla-homolka-case
Eate, P. (2007). From Complicity to Coercion: The Representation of the Female Sexual Serial Murderer in the Case of Karla Homolka. Outskirts: feminisms along the edge (16), pp. 3.
Gatehouse, J. (2016). Why Karla Homolka’s children will pay for her crimes. MacLean’s. https://macleans.ca/culture/books/karla-homolkas-children-will-pay-for-her-crimes/
Jenish, D. (2014). Homolka’s Testimony. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/homolkas-testimony
Kilty, J., & Frigon, S. (2006). Karla Homolka--from a woman {in danger} to a {dangerous} woman: chronicling the shifts. Women & Criminal Justice, 17(4), pp. 37–61.
Laframboise, K., & Dalton, M. (2016). Quebec school board reassures parents after reports of Karla Homolka living among them. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/karla-homolka-quebec-chateauguay-school-1.3544558
Lambie, C. (2025). What to know about serial killer Paul Bernardo as his name comes up in federal election. National Post. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/what-to-know-about-serial-killer-paul-bernardo
Patriquin, M. (2016). Karla Homolka’s French Connection. MacLean’s. https://macleans.ca/news/canada/karla-homolkas-french-connection/
Warmington, J. (2013). Paul Bernardo dad says Karla Homolka ‘got away with it.’ Toronto Sun. https://torontosun.com/2013/09/26/paul-bernardo-dad-says-karla-homolka-got-away-with-it

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Episode 19: Abuses at Abu Ghraib Prison

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 06:01:00 GMT

Breckler, S. J. (2004). How Can the Science of Human Behavior Help Us Understand Abu Ghraib? American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/physical-abuse-violence/abu-ghraib
Chaloux, L. (2012). Convergence of Errors: Leadership Failures Contributing to Abu Ghraib Abuses. Royal Military College Saint-Jean. https://www.cmrsj-rmcsj.forces.gc.ca/cb-bk/art-art/2012/art-art-2012-1-eng.asp
Hersh, S. M. (2004). Torture at Abu Ghraib. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/05/10/torture-at-abu-ghraib
Hilal, M. (2017). Abu Ghraib: The legacy of torture in the war on terror. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/10/1/abu-ghraib-the-legacy-of-torture-in-the-war-on-terror
Honderich, H. (2024). US jury awards $42m to ex-detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4v1ydkj04o
Human Rights Watch. (2004). The Road to Abu Ghraib. https://www.hrw.org/report/2004/06/09/road-abu-ghraib
Lankford, A. (2009). Promoting aggression and violence at Abu Ghraib: The U.S. military's transformation of ordinary people into torturers. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14(5), pp. 388-395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2009.06.007
McKelvey, T. (2018). 'I hated myself for Abu Ghraib abuse.' BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/44031774
Percy, J. (2019). The Priest of Abu Ghraib. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/priest-abu-grahib-180971013/
Sherlock, R. (2023). He says U.S. troops abused him in Iraq's Abu Ghraib and his life is still ruined. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/04/11/1167341565/us-iraq-war-abu-ghraib-survivor
Starr, P. (2004). The Meaning of Abu Ghraib. The American Prospect. https://www.princeton.edu/~starr/articles/articles04/Starr-MeaningAbuGhraib-6-04.htm
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Brittanica. (2025). Iraq War. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Iraq-War
Volle, A. (n.d.) Abu Ghraib prison. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Abu-Ghraib-prison

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Episode 18: The Wives of King Henry VIII

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 20:42:39 GMT

Elton, G.R. & Morrill, J. S. (2025). Henry VIII. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-VIII-king-of-England
Historic Royal Palaces. (2025). Henry VIII, Terrible Tudor? https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/history-and-stories/henry-viii/#gs.mckfb5
Historic Royal Palaces. (2025). Henry VIII’s Wives: Six Queens, Six Women. https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/history-and-stories/henry-viii-s-wives-six-queens-six-women/#gs.mckf1b
Ponti, C. (2025). Who Were the Six Wives of Henry VIII? History.com. https://www.history.com/articles/henry-viii-wives
Royal Museums Greenwich. (2025). How many children did Henry VIII have? https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/royal-history/how-many-children-did-henry-viii-have

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Episode 17: Mental Health Treatment & Care

Tue, 27 May 2025 21:31:10 GMT

Concordia University, St. Paul. (2020). A History of Mental Illness Treatment: Obsolete Practices. https://online.csp.edu/resources/article/history-of-mental-illness-treatment/
Department of Justice Canada. (2023). The Mentally Ill: How They Became Enmeshed in the Criminal Justice System and How We Might Get Them Out. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/mental/p3.html
Goodman, J. T. (2014). Mental Health. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mental-health
Jutras, M. (2017). Historical perspectives on the theories, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness. British Columbia Medical Journal. https://bcmj.org/mds-be/historical-perspectives-theories-diagnosis-and-treatment-mental-illness
Larson, Z. (2018). America's Long-Suffering Mental Health System. Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective. https://origins.osu.edu/article/americas-long-suffering-mental-health-system
Malcolm, L. & Blumer, C. (2016). Madness and insanity: A history of mental illness from evil spirits to modern medicine. ABC News Australia. https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2016-08-02/mental-illness-and-insanity-a-short-cultural-history/7677906
Mandell, W. (1995). The Realization of an Idea. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/departments/mental-health/about/origins-of-mental-health
McVean, A. (2017). The History of Hysteria. McGill University. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/history-quackery/history-hysteria
Rondinone, T. (2024). Reckoning With the History of Mental Healthcare. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-asylum/202412/reckoning-with-the-history-of-mental-healthcare
Sims, A.C.P, &. Shepphird, S. (2025). Treatment of mental disorders. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/science/mental-disorder/Treatment-of-mental-disorders
Smith, K.M. (2020). Discrimination and Racism in the History of Mental Health Care. National Alliance on Mental Illness. https://www.nami.org/african-american/discrimination-and-racism-in-the-history-of-mental-health-care/

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Episode 16: RMS Titanic

Mon, 12 May 2025 06:01:00 GMT

Boileau, J. (2022). Titanic. The Canadian Encylopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/titanic
Daugherty, G. (2025). The Long, Strange Trip of the Titanic Victims Whose Remains Surfaced Hundreds of Miles Away, Weeks After the Ship Sank. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-long-strange-trip-of-the-titanic-victims-whose-remains-surfaced-hundreds-of-miles-away-weeks-after-the-ship-sank-180986386/
History.com. (2009). Titanic. https://www.history.com/articles/titanic
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2024). R.M.S. Titanic - History and Significance. https://www.noaa.gov/office-of-general-counsel/gc-international-section/rms-titanic-history-and-significance#:~:text=Titanic%2C%20launched%20on%20May%2031,than%201%2C500%20passengers%20and%20crew
Penner, L. (2025). Don’t Mind the Mess - The ship that sailed through time. The Carillon. https://www.thecarillon.com/local/2025/05/06/column-dont-mind-the-mess-the-ship-that-sailed-through-time
Tikkanen, A. (2025). Titanic. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Titanic

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Episode 15: Kwame Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Post-Colonial Foreign Interference

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 06:01:00 GMT

Abbey, A. O. (2023). The Educational Impact of Military Coup D'etats in Ghana on Education. York University. https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/items/34e9c030-1d9c-4c1f-8c99-60d19ff59d53
BBC News. (2016). Four more ways the CIA has meddled in Africa. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36303327
Encyclopaedia Brittanica. (2025). Kwame Nkrumah. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kwame-Nkrumah
Gebe, B. Y. Ghana’s Foreign Policy at Independence and Implications for the 1966 Coup D’état. University of Ghana. https://jpanafrican.org/docs/vol2no3/GhanasForeignPolicyAtIndependenceAnd.pdf
Hersh, S.M. (1978). C.I.A. Said to Have Aided Plotters Who Overthrew Nkrumah in Ghana. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/05/09/archives/cia-said-to-have-aided-plotters-who-overthrew-nkrumah-in-ghana.html
Lentz, C. (2023). Kwame Nkrumah: memorials to the man who led Ghana to independence have been built, erased and revived again. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/kwame-nkrumah-memorials-to-the-man-who-led-ghana-to-independence-have-been-built-erased-and-revived-again-211434
London School of Economics and Political Science. (2025). Kwame Nkrumah: From LSE to the presidency. https://www.lse.ac.uk/africa/hub-for-african-thought/thinkers/kwame-nkrumah
Ogunsuyi, A. (2023). Overthrow of Nkrumah in Ghana. EBSCO Information Services. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/overthrow-nkrumah-ghana
Okafor, C. (2025). John Mahama highlights how the CIA tried to tear down Ghana. Business Insider. https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/john-mahama-highlights-how-the-cia-tried-to-tear-down-ghana/j4yvc59

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Episode 14: Broken Arrows

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 06:01:00 GMT

Adams, S. (2022). The lost nuke of British Columbia. Legion: Canada’s Military History Magazine. https://legionmagazine.com/the-lost-nuke-of-british-columbia/
Gorvett, Z. (2022). The lost nuclear bombs that no one can find. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220804-the-lost-nuclear-bombs-that-no-one-can-find
Hosgood, A.F. (2023). In Northwest BC, the Case of the Missing Nuke. The Tyee. https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/08/25/Northwest-BC-Case-Missing-Nuke/
Izzo, J. (2025). A brief history of missing US nuclear weapons. Snopes. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/us-missing-nuclear-weapons/
Kass, H. (2024). The U.S. Military Is Missing 6 Nuclear Weapons. The National Interest. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/us-military-missing-6-nuclear-weapons-213059
Mosher, D. (2017). A thermonuclear bomb slammed into a North Carolina farm in 1961 — and part of it is still missing. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-bomb-accident-goldsboro-nc-swamp-2017-5

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Episode 13: Colombian Bananas

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 06:01:00 GMT

Caro, J.E.E., & Vidal Ortega, A. (2012). The worker's massacre of 1928 in the Magdalena Zona Bananera - Colombia: An unfinished story. Memorias, 9(18), pp. 22-54. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262504044_The_worker%27s_massacre_of_1928_in_the_Magdalena_Zona_Bananera_-_Colombia_An_unfinished_story
Dwyer, K. (2025). The Colombia Banana Massacre of 1928: The Shocking Story. The Collector. https://www.thecollector.com/colombia-banana-massacre-1928-story/
Gómez. G., I. (2024). The Human Cost of your Breakfast Banana. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/27/opinion/chiquita-banana-killings-colombia-auc.html
Goodman, A. & González, J. (2024). Bananas and Blood: Chiquita Ordered to Pay Colombian Families $38 Million for Backing Death Squads. Democracy Now!. https://www.democracynow.org/2024/6/12/chiquita_funding_death_squads_in_colombia
Harvard Political Review. (2015). One Hundred Years of Remembrance. https://harvardpolitics.com/one-hundred-years-remembrance/
Ramirez Cabal, M. (2023). The Dark Side of Bananas: Imperialism, Non-State Actors, and Power. Harvard International Review. https://hir.harvard.edu/the-dark-side-of-bananas-imperialism-non-state-actors-and-power/
Taylor, L. (2024). US banana giant ordered to pay $38m to families of Colombian men killed by death squads. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/11/chiquita-banana-deaths-lawsuit-colombia
Vaughan, D. (n.d.). Banana Massacre. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Banana-Massacre
Visualizing the Americas. (n.d.) Colombia: A Photograph We Were Not Supposed to See. University of Toronto Mississauga. https://visualizingtheamericas.utm.utoronto.ca/1928-massacre-1
Werner, J. (2024). The Deep Roots of the Chiquita Verdict. Time. https://time.com/6989104/chiquita-colombia-lawsuit/

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Episode 12: Universities Pt. 2

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 07:01:00 GMT

Brown, S.M. (2025). Harvard Under Fire for Slashing Slavery Initiative Staff as Black History Faces Nationwide Attacks. The Washington Informer. https://www.washingtoninformer.com/harvard-terminates-staff-slavery-initiative/
CBC Radio. (2021). Penn Museum apologizes for collecting bones of victims of slavery and police violence. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-thursday-edition-1.6007322/penn-museum-apologizes-for-collecting-bones-of-victims-of-slavery-and-police-violence-1.6007326
Gladney, V. (2022). A Bare and Open Truth: The Penn and Slavery Project and the Public. Penn Arts & Sciences: Department of History. https://live-sas-www-history.pantheon.sas.upenn.edu/node/14902
Ireland, C. (2011). Harvard and slavery. The Harvard Gazette. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/11/harvard-and-slavery/
McLeod, S. (2023). Stanford Prison Experiment: Zimbardo’s Famous Study. SimplyPsychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/zimbardo.html
Ngauv, J. (2019). Harvard is Built on Slavery. The Harvard Crimson. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/10/2/ngauv-harvard-built-slavery/
Pendergrass, D.C. & Raji, M.Y. (2017). The Bitter Pill: Harvard and the Dark History of Birth Control. The Harvard Crimson. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/9/28/the-bitter-pill/
Pilkington, E. (2022). Ivy League university set to rebury skulls of Black people kept for centuries. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/07/us-university-plans-repatriation-black-american-remains
President and Fellows of Harvard College. (2022). Harvard & The Legacy of Slavery. https://radcliffe-harvard-edu-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/43444f4b-d5f6-4d71-963d-e667b548a58d/HLS-whole-report_FINAL_2022-09-14FINAL-ua2.pdf
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Brittanica. Stanford Prison Experiment. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Stanford-Prison-Experiment

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Episode 11: 1914 Sealing Disasters

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 07:01:00 GMT

Baker, M. (n.d.). The Struggle for Influence and Power: William Coaker, Abram Kean, and the Newfoundland Sealing Industry, 1908–1915. Memorial University. https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/nflds/article/view/21477/24946
CBC News. Sealing disasters marked as Elliston memorial opens. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/sealing-disasters-marked-as-elliston-memorial-opens-1.2681909
CBC News. The 1914 sealing disaster: 100 years later. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/the-1914-sealing-disaster-100-years-later-1.2591837
CityNews Vancouver. (2014). Newfoundland marks 1914 sealing disaster with father and son’s frozen embrace. https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2014/03/30/newfoundland-marks-1914-sealing-disaster-with-father-and-sons-frozen-embrace/
Crocker, D. (2014). History professor concludes 1914 sealing disaster played role in collapse of democracy. Saltwire. https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/history-professor-concludes-1914-sealing-disaster-played-role-in-collapse-of-democracy-117308
Higgins, J. (2011). 1914 Sealing Disaster. The Independent. https://theindependent.ca/news/past-tense/1914-sealing-disaster/
Higgins, J. (2007). Impact of the 1914 Sealing Disaster. Heritage Newfoundland & Labrador. https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/sealing-disaster-impact.php
Higgins, J. (2007). The 1914 Sealing Disaster. Heritage Newfoundland & Labrador. https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/sealing-disaster-1914.php
Ryan, S. (n.d.). Newfoundland Spring Sealing Disasters to 1914. The Northern Mariner. https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol03/tnm_3_3_15-48.pdf

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Episode 10: Dentistry

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 07:01:00 GMT

American Dental Education Association. (2023). History of Dentistry. https://www.adea.org/godental/Dentistry-101/history-and-data/history-of-dentistry
CBC Radio. (2017). From tooth pullers to dentists: Dental care's 'really painful' history. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/filling-in-the-gaps-dental-care-in-canada-a-special-edition-of-the-current-1.4421567/from-tooth-pullers-to-dentists-dental-care-s-really-painful-history-1.4421608
Connor, R.A. & Kamen, S. (2024). Dentistry. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/science/dentistry
Daugherty, G. (2023). How Humans Took Care of Their Teeth Through History. History.com. https://www.history.com/news/dental-care-teeth-cleaning-through-history
Duncan, J. (2018). 10 Horrors Of Dentistry Throughout History. Listverse. https://listverse.com/2018/01/24/10-horrors-of-dentistry-throughout-history/
Hargreaves, J.A. (2013). Dentistry. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/dentistry
Jabr, F. (2019). The Truth About Dentistry. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/05/the-trouble-with-dentistry/586039/
Mandel, I.D. (1994). Dental Quackery: A Retrospective View. The Journal of the American Dental Association. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002817794520087?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-2&rr=90b52ded6dc7eb47
Morana, C. (2016). Quacks and Tramps: A Brief History of Dentistry in Canada. https://150.oda.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/YOHFW2016.pdf
Museum of Healthcare at Kingston. (2013). The Evolution of Dentistry. https://museumofhealthcare.blog/the-evolution-of-dentistry/
Singh, A. (2023). Dental Quackery: The Status Quo in India. Medbound Times. https://www.medboundtimes.com/medbound-blog/dental-quackery-the-status-quo-in-india
Staley, R. (2015). The cola kids of El Salvador. Corporate Knights. https://www.corporateknights.com/education/cola-kids-el-salvador/

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Episode 9: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 07:01:00 GMT

Fadulu, L. (2023). After 112 Years, Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Victims Get a Memorial. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/11/nyregion/triangle-shirtwaist-factory-fire-memorial.html
History.com Editors. (2024). Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. History.com. https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/triangle-shirtwaist-fire
Kiger, P.J. (2023). How the Horrific Tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Led to Workplace Safety Laws. History.com. https://www.history.com/news/triangle-shirtwaist-factory-fire-labor-safety-laws
National Portrait Gallery. The Tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Smithsonian. https://npg.si.edu/blog/tragedy-triangle-shirtwaist-factory
NYU Law News. (n.d.). One hundred years later, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire is remembered. NYU Law. https://www.law.nyu.edu/news/TRIANGLE_FIRE_CENTENNIAL
Stein, L. & Skalka, D.A. (1957). The 1911 Triangle Factory Fire: Leon Stein Interviews. Cornell University. https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/primary/survivorInterviews/DoraSkalka.html
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Brittanica. (2024). Triangle shirtwaist factory fire. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Triangle-shirtwaist-factory-fire
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Memorial. (n.d.) Triangle History. https://trianglememorial.org/triangle-history/

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Episode 8: The Beothuk People of Newfoundland

Mon, 06 Jan 2025 07:01:26 GMT

Cecco, L. (2020). Canada: DNA discovery lends weight to First Nations ancestral story. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/10/dna-canada-first-nations-ancestral-story
Hillier, B. (2021). There’s nothing to prove it, but Mi’kmaw mercenary myth persists, say researchers. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/mi-kmaw-mercenary-myth-colonial-history-school-textbooks-1.6073752
Marshall, I. & Macpherson, A.G. (n.d.). William Eppes Cormack (1796-1868): The Later Years. https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/nflds/article/view/26100/30326
Meier, A.C. (2019). Who Were the Beothuk, the Lost People of Newfoundland? JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/who-were-the-beothuk-the-lost-people-of-newfoundland/
Mitchell, A. (2021). Amet*: Understanding the Beothuk. Canadian Geographic. https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/amet-understanding-the-beothuk/
Story, G.M. (1976). CORMACK, WILLIAM EPPES. Dictionary of Canadian Biography. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cormack_william_eppes_9E.html
Story, G.M. (2022). Demasduit. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/demasduwit
Story, G.M. (1998). HOWLEY, JAMES PATRICK. Dictionary of Canadian Biography. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/howley_james_patrick_14E.html
Story, G.M. (2022). Shawnadithit. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/shawnadithit
Tuck, J.A. (2022). Beothuk. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/beothuk
Windspeaker.com. (2017). Shanawdithit: The last of the Beothuk people. https://windspeaker.com/news/womens-history-month/shanawdithit-the-last-of-the-beothuk-people

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Episode 7: Camp Sumter (Andersonville Prison)

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 07:01:02 GMT

American Battlefield Trust. (2024). Andersonville Prison. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/andersonville-prison
Brittanica. (n.d.). Andersonville. https://www.britannica.com/place/Andersonville-Georgia
Davis, R.S. (2020). Andersonville Prison. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/andersonville-prison/
Georgia Public Broadcasting. (n.d.). Punishment and Tragedy at Andersonville Prison. https://artsandculture.google.com/story/punishment-and-tragedy-at-andersonville-prison-georgia-public-broadcasting/1AUROj2waF4UIw?hl=en
History.com. (2019). Andersonville. https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/andersonville
National Park Service. (n.d.). An Introduction to Civil War Prisons. https://www.nps.gov/ande/learn/historyculture/cwprisons.htm
National Park Service. (n.d.). History of the Andersonville Prison. https://www.nps.gov/ande/learn/historyculture/camp_sumter_history.htm

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Episode 6: Kent State Shootings

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 07:01:56 GMT

Aftoora-Orsagos, P. & Rubinkam, M. (2024). Troops fired on Kent State students in 1970. Survivors see echoes in today’s campus protests. AP. https://apnews.com/article/kent-state-ac60fdcb2a2dc852e49ee9fc2e6aaf31
Diacon, T. (2024). The Long Shadow of May 4, 1970. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2024/05/03/long-shadow-may-4-1970-opinion
Guerrieri, V. (2020). How 13 Seconds Changed Kent State University Forever. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/fifty-years-ago-kent-state-massacre-changed-university-forever-180974787/
Kaur, H. (2020). 50 years ago today, the shooting of 4 college students at Kent State changed America. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/04/us/kent-state-shooting-50th-anniversary-trnd/index.html
Kelly, D. (2024). Kent State shootings: The 1970 student protests that shook the US. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240503-kent-state-university-1970-protests-that-shook-the-us
McCormick, P. (2021). The Girl in the Kent State Photo. The Washington Post Magazine. https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2021/04/19/girl-kent-state-photo-lifelong-burden-being-national-symbol/
Pruitt, S. (2023). Kent State Shootings: A Timeline of the Tragedy. History.com. https://www.history.com/news/kent-state-shootings-timeline
The Associated Press. (2024). AP Was There: Ohio National Guard killed protesters at Kent State University. https://apnews.com/article/kent-state-shootings-1970-ap-story-85ef44415eec5b1242096568218ac16b
Treisman, R. (2024). She survived the 1970 Kent State shooting. Here's her message to student activists. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2024/05/04/1249023924/kent-state-shooting-activists-protests-survivor
VanDeMark, B. (2024). In a new era of campus upheaval, the 1970 Kent State shootings show the danger of deploying troops to crush legal protests. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/in-a-new-era-of-campus-upheaval-the-1970-kent-state-shootings-show-the-danger-of-deploying-troops-to-crush-legal-protests-237374
Wallenfeldt, J. (n.d.). Kent state shooting. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Kent-State-shootings

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Episode 5: Parenting & Childhood

Mon, 04 Nov 2024 07:01:59 GMT

Amezcua-Patino, L. (2023). Nurturing Through Time: The History and Evolution of Parenting. Medium. https://medium.com/raising-a-beautiful-mind/nurturing-through-time-the-history-and-evolution-of-parenting-224cd17a3eb8
CBC Radio. (2019). Parenting throughout history could be weird, and downright dangerous: author. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-february-18-2019-1.5021628/parenting-throughout-history-could-be-weird-and-downright-dangerous-author-1.5021677
Hart, L. & Caven, K. (2016). Parenting’s troubled history: Why changing family patterns is our most important work. https://acestoohigh.com/2016/10/18/parenting-trouble-history/
Loughborough University. (2023). Raising children in the 16th century: Parenting tips you may (not) want to try. https://www.lboro.ac.uk/media-centre/press-releases/2023/april/sixteenth-century-parenting-tips/

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Episode 4: The Salem Witch Trials

Mon, 21 Oct 2024 06:01:45 GMT

Blumberg, J. (2022). A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/
Linder, D.O. (1995). Tituba. UMKC School of Law: Famous Trials. https://www.famous-trials.com/salem/2045-asa-tit
Lohnes, K. (n.d.). How Rye Bread May Have Caused the Salem Witch Trials. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/story/how-rye-bread-may-have-caused-the-salem-witch-trials
Markham-Cantor, A. (2019). The Problem With Dressing Up as a Witch for Halloween. The Nation. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/witch-costume-halloween/
Niehoff, L. (2020). What the Salem witch trials can teach us in 2020. Detroit Free Press. https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2020/10/29/lesson-salem-witch-trials/6067161002/
Salem Witch Museum. (2024). FAQ. https://salemwitchmuseum.com/faqs/
Schiff, S. (2015). Unraveling the Many Mysteries of Tituba, the Star Witness of the Salem Witch Trials. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/unraveling-mysteries-tituba-salem-witch-trials-180956960/
Snider, A.C. (2021). The Salem Witch Trials: A Story of Patriarchy, Persecution and Misogyny. Teen Vogue. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-were-the-salem-witch-trials
Vujic, K. (2024). Fact-checking the Salem Witch Trials. The Cut. https://www.thecut.com/article/alice-markham-cantor-interview-once-and-future-witch-hunts-book.html
Wallenfeldt, J. (2024). Salem witch trials. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Salem-witch-trials

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Episode 3: MK-ULTRA

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 06:01:45 GMT

Annable, K. (2017). 'She went away, hoping to get better': Family remembers Winnipeg woman put through CIA-funded brainwashing. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/mkultra-cia-velma-orlikow-1.4449922
Banerjee, S. (2023). MK-ULTRA mind-control experiments: Quebec high court says U.S. has immunity in Canada. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/mk-ultra-mind-control-experiments-quebec-high-court-says-u-s-has-immunity-in-canada/article_8eb4f925-8ed1-59b7-bfa7-179a7dd94055.html
Boylan, D. (2017). CIA’s MK-Ultra LSD mind control experiment has lingering legacy. The Washington Times. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/30/cias-mk-ultra-lsd-mind-control-experiment-has-ling/
Dunleavy, B. (2023). What Happened to Ted Kaczynski at Harvard?. History.com. https://www.history.com/news/what-happened-to-the-unabomber-at-harvard
Gross, T. (2019). The CIA's Secret Quest For Mind Control: Torture, LSD And A 'Poisoner In Chief'. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/758989641/the-cias-secret-quest-for-mind-control-torture-lsd-and-a-poisoner-in-chief
Kinzer, S. (2019). The secret history of Fort Detrick, the CIA’s base for mind-control experiments. Politico. https://www.politico.eu/article/the-secret-history-of-fort-detrick-the-cias-base-for-mind-control-experiments/
Noakes, T.C. (2021). Montreal MKULTRA Experiments. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mkultra
Nofil, B. (2024). The CIA’s Appalling Human Experiments with Mind Control. History.com. https://www.history.com/mkultra-operation-midnight-climax-cia-lsd-experiments
Prideaux, E. & Penner, J. (2021). The Untold Story of the CIA’s MK Ultra: A Conversation with Stephen Kinzer. Los Angeles Review of Books. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-untold-story-of-the-cias-mkultra-a-conversation-with-stephen-kinzer/
Shephard, E., Ellenwood, L., & Oke, C. (2020). Brainwashed: The echoes of MK-ULTRA. CBC News. https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/brainwashed-mkultra/
Thompson, E. (2017). Federal government quietly compensates daughter of brainwashing experiments victim. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cia-brainwashing-allanmemorial-mentalhealth-1.4373590

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Episode 2: Universities

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 06:01:30 GMT

Anthony, A. (2024). ‘Eugenics on steroids’: the toxic and contested legacy of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/apr/28/nick-bostrom-controversial-future-of-humanity-institute-closure-longtermism-affective-altruism
Ermakov, A. (2022). Legends and myths of Moscow University. Kot Shryodingera. https://kot.sh/zakony-svobody/tpost/sf5xe66ob1-legendi-i-mifi-moskovskogo-universiteta
Langevin, L.A. (n.d.). Mikhail Lomonosov: Russian author and scientist. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mikhail-Vasilyevich-Lomonosov
Levine, R. (2018). From heartbreaking letters to triumphant trophies: 12 objects that tell the story of U of T during the Great War. U of T News. https://www.utoronto.ca/news/heartbreaking-letters-triumphant-trophies-12-objects-tell-story-u-t-during-great-war
Lomonosov Moscow State University. (2021). https://openday.msu.ru/en/history#:~:text=Lomonosov%20Moscow%20State%20University%20is,Lomonosov%20(1711%2D1765)
New World Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Moscow State University. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Moscow_State_University
Omer, N. (2020). The dark and dirty legacy of racism at Oxford University. https://gal-dem.com/legacy-of-racism-oxford-university-rhodes/
Scott, A. (2007). Behind Enemy Lines: U of T grads John Kenneth Macalister and Frank Pickersgill trained as spies during the Second World War. An unlucky break brought their lives to a tragic end. University of Toronto Magazine. https://magazine.utoronto.ca/campus/history/u-of-t-world-war-two-stories/
Spiers, A. (2023). Oxford’s Ghostly Tales and Spooky Histories. Oxford Scholastica Academy. https://www.oxfordscholastica.com/blog/oxfords-ghostly-tales-and-spooky-histories/
The Archaeologist. (2023). Oxford's Dark Past: Uncovering The Most Violent City Of Medieval England. https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/oxfords-dark-past-uncovering-the-most-violent-city-of-medieval-england
University College Toronto. (2024). Our Ghost Story: The Legend of Reznikoff and Diabolos. https://www.uc.utoronto.ca/our-ghost-story
University of Oxford. (2024). https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/organisation/history

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Episode 1: The Great Hunger (The Irish Potato Famine)

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:06:27 GMT

Resources

Canada Ireland Foundation. (n.d.). Irish Famine Migrant Stories in Ontario. https://irishfaminestories.ca/en

Cantwell, J.D. (2017). A great-grandfather's account of the Irish potato famine (1845–1850). Baylor University Medical Centre Proceedings. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5468053/

History.com Editors. (2022). Irish Potato Famine. https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/irish-potato-famine

Irish Famine Exhibition. (2024). Ireland’s Great Hunger. https://www.theirishpotatofamine.com/en-ca/pages/irelands-great-hunger

Majendie, P. (1991). Sad Tale in Irish Famine Victim’s Diary. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-08-18-mn-1335-story.html

Mokyr, J. (2024). Great Famine. Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Famine-Irish-history

Mulvihill, J. (2020). The Truth Behind The Irish Famine. The Irish Echo. https://www.irishecho.com/2020/12/the-truth-behind-the-irish-famine

Quinnipiac University. (2019). Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum. https://www.ighm.org/learn.html

The Irish Memorial. (n.d.). https://irishmemorial.org/learn/

UC Museum of Paleontology. (2024). Relevance of Evolution. https://evolution.berkeley.edu/the-relevance-of-evolution/agriculture/monoculture-and-the-irish-potato-famine-cases-of-missing-genetic-variation/

UK Parliament. (2024). The great famine. https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/parliamentandireland/overview/the-great-famine/
Whelan, K. (2021). "So sad in themselves": the impact of the Great Famine. RTÉ. https://www.rte.ie/history/post-famine/2020/0909/1164237-so-sad-in-themselves-the-impact-of-the-great-famine/

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Episode 0: About the Podcast

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 17:00:26 GMT

Hi friends, my name is Aubrianna Snow and I’m the creator and host of the Under the Mat podcast. I wanted to begin this podcast with some brief notes about who I am, why I’m pursuing this project, and what it is and is not. First let me say, I’m not a historian – my education is in journalism, but I’ve been working in the anti-violence sector since I finished my undergrad. I’m currently pursuing a policy-related Masters program, here in Alberta, Canada, where I live. Throughout my career, I’ve become deeply interested in power relations and how they’ve played out throughout history and continue to manifest themselves today. I’ve also long held an interest in the darker sides of the human experience – some of my favorite podcasts revolve around dark history and true crime, so I wanted to explore that from my own lens. A lot of the podcast will focus on historical abuses of power, but not all of it – there will also be fun, spooky elements to spice up the conversation. This podcast is primarily meant to be a fun learning opportunity for folks with similar interests to mine – it’s not meant to be a comprehensive resource, and because of the nature of the medium, at lot of episodes will be a surface-level look at whatever topic is being covered. I’m planning to post a new episode every other week, but that may change as time goes on. Thank you for taking the time to listen, and I hope you enjoy everything I have planned for this show. Listen with care, friends.

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